Tag: Ghosts

Movie Review: Odd Thomas

IMDB, Odd Thomas“Odd Thomas” on IMDB

Thriller/Mystery/Horror, 97 Minutes, 2013

[Personal Note: my wife and I finished this movie and, as you’ll see, enjoyed it thoroughly. I began writing the review and, a short while later, learned that Anton Yelchin had died. Considering the subject matter of the film, this created some eerie sensations to say the least. He was a damn good actor and seemed like a damn fine human.]

(more…)

Movie Review: As Above, So Below

IMDB, As Above, So Below“As Above, So Below” on IMDB

Horror/Drama, 93 Minutes, 2014

Found-footage is a genre that just won’t die. The well is fouled and rank, but Directors keep dipping in, audiences keep lapping it up and, yes, I keep reviewing them. Gimmicks distract, even when used well, and this is one gimmick that’s run it’s course. It does nothing positive for this movie. We get video from handheld cams, helmet cams, body cams and, like all found-footage, impossible cams.

(more…)

Movie Review: The Whole Damn Poltergeist Franchise

IMDB, PoltergeistIMDB, Poltergeist IIIMDB, Poltergeist III
“Poltergeist” on IMDB (Horror, 114 Minutes, 1982)
“Poltergeist III” on IMDB (Horror, 98 Minutes, 1988)

I was 11 years old in 1982 when “Poltergeist” came out. Not only does that make me very old now, but it also means that that the MPAA hadn’t gone quite as monkey-slapping-crazy as they are now and gave this movie a PG rating. Tobe Hooper [IMDB] and Stephen Spielberg [IMDB] could have easily gone for a hard “R” (studios still hadn’t decided to be horribly afraid of it). Instead they tossed out one of the hands-down scariest experiences of my childhood and still brought it in with a PG.

(more…)

Movie Review: The Conjuring

IMDB, The Conjuring“The Conjuring” on IMDB

Horror, 112 Minutes, 2013

The movie is based on the reports of noted paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. It presents them as learned, respected and heroic. They were none of these things. None of their evidence has ever stood up to investigation, and none of their claims have ever been confirmed. Most of their cases, such as the famous Amityville Horror, have been thoroughly debunked as hoaxes and the rest are highly explainable.

(more…)

Movie Review: Insidious

“Insidious” on IMDB

Horror, 103 Minutes, 2010

With almost no tweaking this could easily be a remake of “Poltergeist” [IMDB].  Although the haunted house angle (which was completely superfluous to begin with) is abandoned early the plot has all the same touch-points.  Josh and Renai’s son, Dalton, enters into an unexplained coma that appears more like normal sleep than anything medical.  Surrounding this are terrifying visions and things that go bump-in-the-night.

(more…)